What did you do today to prep?

[OrPackrat]

Convinced a friend he needs a supressor.

Let him shoot my suppressed Ruger American Rimfire 22lr after he finished a day playing airsoft, the 22lr was far quieter, cross hair accuracy at 50yds. He was having fun shooting the nails out of wood panels...

Pulled my new dehumidifier out of storage, going to test it for the first time later this week when we clean the carpets... it's a commercial grade unit...

 

[Kcee]

I just bought a drain cleaner (electric auger), so I can unclog my septic pipes myself.

My septic system is over 45 years old, so it needs maintenance every few years. I just had my septic tank pumped.

Self home maintenance is important for survival, and tools are great for barter work.

 

[The Heretic]

I just bought a drain cleaner (electric auger), so I can unclog my septic pipes myself.

My septic system is over 45 years old, so it needs maintenance every few years. I just had my septic tank pumped.

Self home maintenance is important for survival, and tools are great for barter work.

I had the tank pumped by the PO before we closed the deal. He dug it up by hand then left most of the dirt off it, so when I got the chance a couple years later, I used a dozer to push the dirt back over it. Been 12 years with no issues - but I live alone so not as much effluent as a family would produce.

My next place will have pressurized toilets though; they use the pressure of the water line stored in a pressure tank, instead of gravity from the tank, to push fecal matter out of the toilet, so you don't get a clogged toilet or septic system.

 

[Bacchus]

Somewhat related ...

I had a problem with my toilets getting clogged very frequently, but no septic tank, I have the city sewer service.

I finally figured out that some toilet paper brands lead to much more clogging than others. In my house we had switched to Charmin "extra strength" (pink label stuff) a year previous and that stuff is extra strong, I think, but I think that was the problem, it was too strong and wouldn't dissolve as readily as whatever we were using before. I did some research online and discovered that RV owners would typically use paper that dissolved easier, and videos that discussed this very topic would recommend half a dozen brands. I tried Scott's, which everybody recommended as dissolving very easily, and it does dissolve easier but I hated it because it was 1-ply. So I've tried three different brands since the Charmin and they have all been a big improvement over the Charmin pink label. I imagine a bidet would work even better.

 

[Burt Gummer]

Been looking on Cl for a cabinet for some ammo storage and everyone is so proud of their old crap. So Amazon it is ..... https://www.amazon.com/Garage-Stora...a35-baa8-5bd9182122f4&pd_rd_i=B07BK8W5MF&th=1

 

[Bacchus]

We went target practicing on Saturday; my AR is dialed in perfectly. I hiked 6 miles on Sunday, which is a big deal because I've been suffering from plantar fasciitis since we moved into the new house in July. That hike was the first time I'd walked more than a mile in one stretch since then. I pushed it probably a little too hard, so I've been icing it and taking ibuprofen. It's not really bad, but I'm going to be cautious going forward. I'm glad I was able to go that far, but I will stick to a mile for the next couple of weeks. I really want to get back to my 3-4 miles several times a week, but it's just not going to happen. It's crazy how long this injury takes to heal. Don't wear old shoes!! Throw them out! Both my runners and hikers were over a year old. Hikers were about four years. I was being frugal since I am only working part-time. That will not happen again.

Husband is running a half marathon on March 2, and planning to do the one in Banff in June with our daughter.

Did you get over your plantar fasciitis? I had that quite a few years ago, we had a lot of snow for a few months and to protect my shoes outside I wore rubber boots without shoes from my car to the facility, and there was no arch support in the rubber boots. I think that was the cause of my plantar fasciitis, it was the only thing I was doing differently. On the other hand, I go barefoot most of the time during the summer without problems.

I went to the doctor and he 1) gave me a cortisone shot; and 2) fitted me for custom orthotics insoles, which I received in a few days after seeing the doctor. In less than two weeks I had no pain at all, and haven't had since even though I haven't worn the custom orthotics in over ten years.

 

[OrPackrat]

Ordered myself a nice but basic drone with long range capabilities, long fly times of 30 minutes plus on a standard battery and 50 minutes on an extended battery.

Good camera on it, ordered extra batteries and started planning the system to build for a portable charging station that can charge from 110 to 12v to 5v to solar.

Ideally setup charging that would allow all day flying with stops just to swap batteries... Drone is also quieter than most so it is said to go unnoticed a lot more.

 

[The Heretic]

 

[sobo]

Been looking on Cl for a cabinet for some ammo storage and everyone is so proud of their old crap. So Amazon it is ..... https://www.amazon.com/Garage-Stora...a35-baa8-5bd9182122f4&pd_rd_i=B07BK8W5MF&th=1

Shiit, Burt, if'n ya woulda asked, I'da given ya one of these, free. I got four of them from Hanford, free for just hauling 'em away, when they were givin' away gooberment surplus crap. I kept two; gave the other two away. And no, they didn't come pre-stocked with ammo...

 

[Burt Gummer]

Great minds. I already have vertical filing cabinets stocked full of ....... Christmas Ornaments and nick-nacks. A guy like me only needs a small box of ammo. Filed up Pew-Pew. P third drawer.

The problem with stuffing ammo hidden away in various places is when you want to get to the range. Now where is the 22lr subsonic, I forget .........

 

[The Heretic]

Shiit, Burt, if'n ya woulda asked, I'da given ya one of these, free. I got four of them from Hanford, free for just hauling 'em away, when they were givin' away gooberment surplus crap. I kept two; gave the other two away. And no, they didn't come pre-stocked with ammo...


View attachment 1855680

Did you check them with a Geiger counter?

 

[Darcy]

Bought more ammo, cleared unused space to expand garden, then began clearing space in the barn to have a little workshop for projects.

 

[The Heretic]

Ordered a pressure cooker

[Amazon] T-fal Pressure Canner/Cooker, 22 Qt. - $65.79 (was $99.00)

Apr 03, 2024

www.preppingdeals.net

 

[AshWilliams]

Ordered a pressure cooker

[Amazon] T-fal Pressure Canner/Cooker, 22 Qt. - $65.79 (was $99.00)

Apr 03, 2024

www.preppingdeals.net

For canning?

 

[The Heretic]

For canning?

Yes. And for cooking when fuel/power is scarce, autoclaving/sterilizing, etc.

 

[OrPackrat]

Found out what a bunch of random greens growing up in my yard likely is.

Purple dead nettle. So I'm likely going to harvest and freeze dry and bunch...

 

[Burt Gummer]

Had to go so deep to retrieve some ammo that I needed a minor's helmet and flashlight hahaha. Not because of my usual theft paranoia, but simple lack of space. You know, for my couple hundred rounds of ammo. Carrying and crawling make for an interesting workout. Honestly though what a way to go Gummer style - "He was found grasping a box of 22LR sub 45g" apparently.

 

[Bacchus]

Reference: Post 12039, Page 602.

Follow up on the humidity of my small refrigerator. I am storing antibiotics in a small refrigerator and using desiccant bags to keep the humidity down.

Over four days the average humidity I measured right outside my refrigerator was 39.85%.
The average humidity I measured inside my refrigerator over the same four days was 50.5%.

I was surprised to see the humidity level so much higher inside the refrigerator. A little research provided a clue: the humidity measured by the hygrometers I used is relative humidity, not absolute humidity. The temperature just outside the refrigerator over those four days was an average of 17.65 F warmer than the inside, and the same absolute humidity in a cool environment will be a higher relative humidity with the same absolute humidity in the warmer environment. So the cooler inside temperature accounts for some, if not all, of the difference in relative humidity. And I'm disappointed that my dirt cheap refrigerator can't maintain more than 17.75 F differential from the outside temperature. If it's 75F in my house, I want my refrigerator to maintain 40F inside, a 35F differential.

The clue that you're measuring relative humidity is that the value on your hygrometer will be measured in %.

The web site I used to convert relative to absolute humidities is

relative to absolute humidity calculator

After I added two 5 gram bags of desiccant to the inside, the average relative humidity dropped from 50.5% to 44.0% on the inside, and the average absolute humidity dropped from 5.918 to 5.339 grams of water per cubic meters of air.

Okay, the actual water in the air inside dropped with the desiccant bags, but 5.918 to 5.339 doesn't seem like much to me, about 10%, but I have no experience with absolute humidity. Also, my desiccant bags were 90% exhausted after four days.

My conclusion here is that my desiccant bags aren't as helpful inside the refrigerator as I had expected. I think there is too much ventilation through the refrigerator to make the bags very effective. I am going to discontinue using the bags that are inside the refrigerator and outside the mylar bags.

I have confidence that the desiccant bags are still useful inside the zip locked mylar bags that contain the antibiotics. At some point I'll inspect those desiccant bags and see if they are being exhausted. But those are mylar bags, they won't leak through the bag and hopefully not through their ziplocks. If I discover later that the ziplocks aren't as airtight as I expect, I'll seal the mylar bags with a heating iron.


YMMV.

 

[Angie]

Did you get over your plantar fasciitis? I had that quite a few years ago, we had a lot of snow for a few months and to protect my shoes outside I wore rubber boots without shoes from my car to the facility, and there was no arch support in the rubber boots. I think that was the cause of my plantar fasciitis, it was the only thing I was doing differently. On the other hand, I go barefoot most of the time during the summer without problems.

I went to the doctor and he 1) gave me a cortisone shot; and 2) fitted me for custom orthotics insoles, which I received in a few days after seeing the doctor. In less than two weeks I had no pain at all, and haven't had since even though I haven't worn the custom orthotics in over ten years.

It's getting better. I've been to two podiatrists. The hike really set me back. The first podiatrist used a sound wave treatment which set me back a little further. I really like the doctor here in Montana. I guess I have two heel spurs. One where the achilles attaches and the other where the fascia tendon attaches. He said they will go away in time and I really need to stretch. He also gerry-rigged some additional padding to my insoles, I walk on the outside of my feet, so this should help correct that a bit. He gave me a big brace to wear for an hour every evening. It looks like a foot boot like you would wear with a broken foot/ankle, but longer so that your knee doesn't bend and the foot is bent up at an angle. It really is a lot better, I almost didn't go to my appointment. I'm going to start walking again this week, just a mile or so at first.

We made it home from Arizona safely about three weeks ago and are planting some seed starts today.

Yesterday, we picked up an '86 CJ-7. Planning to pick up an extra ECM for it and sticking it a faraday bag. Is there anything else the group think we need to do to harden it? It does have an EFI system on it. Otherwise, it's stock with a manual transmission. It's the 258 inline-six engine.

Last weekend, we went down and got a dozen trees. Mostly different spruces, a maple to match the single maple stick on our property, a river birch, and two apples and an apricot.

 

[Bacchus]

Planning to pick up an extra ECM for it and sticking it a faraday bag. Is there anything else you think we need to do to harden it?

Are you asking me? I'm trying to remember what posts I've made regarding EMP protection.

But the information I read about ten years ago led me to conclude some of the following.

I'm pretty sure:

1. Two or more layers of conductive protection are better than just one layer. The trick is that each layer has to be electrically isolated (insulated) from the other layers, otherwise it's just one thicker layer if two layers are shorted together.

2. Air gaps to the outside have to be minimized to keep EMP from getting inside.

3. Grounding is not necessary for EMP protection. Works great for lightning protection!

What I believe (but not so sure):

Any conductive bag, such as an aluminum foil cooking bag or aluminum bbq grilling pans, will work provided you can seal it with a ziplock or conductive tape. In fact, when I originally looked at bags sold for "EMP protection" many of them were just bags sold for ESD protection, keeping electronics from getting zapped from an ESD charge you acquired by walking across the carpet. The ones I looked at came with IEC or ANSI standards, and when I looked up the standard they were for ESD, not EMP. And they were outrageously priced. So I've also got some aluminum foil barbecue "pans" that come with lids. I use those sometimes with a conductive tape on the outside to seal the lid to the pan. I also put my items that are enclosed with foil bags 1) inside a plastic zip lock bag for electrical isolation from other bags and 2) inside an all-steel garbage can with a steel lid, and then tape the lid to cover any gaps. I put some cardboard down on the bottom of the can and along the inside walls for additional electrical isolation, keeping the can from touching the bags. I have no more than two layers wrapping each object, not including the outside garbage can.

My efforts may be overkill and hilarious to some, but I try to err on the over.

In no way am I an expert on this, I have some background enabling me to read material on EMP with at least a little understanding. There is a lot of conflicting information out there, such as half the articles I read claimed you needed to ground the outer container. The source I considered most credible said you don't need to ground it, and that's what I go by.

I welcome more expert advice and corrections by anyone. I'm here to learn from others and make a contribution when I can.